This watchdog blog, by journalist Norman Oder, offers analysis, commentary, and reportage about the $4.9 billion project to build the Barclays Center arena and 16 high-rise buildings at a crucial site in Brooklyn. Dubbed Atlantic Yards by developer Forest City Ratner in 2003, it was rebranded Pacific Park Brooklyn in 2014 after the Chinese government-owned Greenland Group bought a 70% stake in 15 towers. New York State still calls it Atlantic Yards. Note: archive at right.

They've been doomed for a while. Now three houses on Dean Street just east of Sixth Avenue, and an industrial building on Pacific Street behind them, are getting closer to the wrecking ball.

So forget 491, 493, and 495 Dean Street, the addresses of a smaller-scale, older-time Brooklyn. They will be obliterated for 664 Pacific Street, the address of the building known as B15, a 27-story tower filled with market-rate rental apartments, with a public school at the base.

At the Community Update Meeting Oct. 14, Forest City Ratner executive Ashley Cotton said that an 8-foot-high plywood fence--not unlike the one across Sixth Avenue for the B3 site--should go up on Dean Street in front of the homes, where abatement (not demolition) work is ongoing.

Then comes demolition by the contractor, Russo Demolition, after permits are issued. That means a fence (purple in the slide below and at bottom) just three feet from the curb (yellow).

The first building will be the two-story 495 Dean Street, which will be demolished using hand tools, given that it stands next to the extant apartment building, 497 Dean. (The fence, according to the large slide near bottom, will apparently go partly in front of 497 Dean.) The four-story buildings to the west will be demolished via mechanical demolition.

Cotton said the demolition method for 666 Pacific Street and the adjacent building on Sixth Avenue has yet to be determined.

493 Dean, last night

"We have noticed all the neighbors about windows, air conditioners [offered by the developer to be installed], so all sorts of protections are in place," Cotton said, noting that "we made special outreach to all constituents" that Peter Krashes of the Dean Street Block Association "brought to our attention."

Other safeguards?

Krashes, noting that even hand demolition causes impacts such as noise and dust, asked if any other provisions had been put in place, because neighbors already have double-pane windows.

"There's no needed extra special provision... because we're doing sorts of stuff that’s really helpful," Cotton said, citing (again) air conditioners, windows, and public notices, "and the rules that regulate the rest of the site" regarding regulation of dust and noise.

Krashes reiterated that the building has elderly people who have health conditions in the building.. "Any steps that the developer can take to ensure their health is protected would be appreciated."

Cotton said that flaggers will be present 7 am to 5 pm to help pedestrian access. Why not later?

"There won’t be work after 5," responded Forest City executive Jane Marshall.

"I think this must be what the regulation is, I’d be happy to follow up," Cotton said.

Chainlink Fence on Concrete Barrier to Be Demolished As Necessary
Parking Lot To Be Used As Staging Arena
Chainlink Fence To Be Removed For Access
Sidewalk Closed. Pedestrians To Cross At Crosswalk
Iron Railing To Be Removed During Demolition
Neighbors Railing To Remain
Sidewalk Closed. Pedestrians To Cross At Crosswalk From meeting presentation

Krashes asked about the designation of 666 Pacific as an "e" building, with a history of hazardous materials.

Cotton said she had no further information, but "we know it’s an 'e' building… everything safe and environmentally sound will be done."

He also asked if the B15 site, which includes a parking lot originally designated for satellite TV trucks, would be used for construction staging or arena operations or parking.

"Will there be potentially arena activities on the future site of the school building, I will say yes.. and will there potentially be construction siting, yes.

"That’s why I'm asking, it's all very impactful," Krashes said.

"It's all very impactful, that’s why we’re coming here," Cotton responded, as if exasperated that pesky residents didn't see the big picture.

Krashes noted that the lot's use has already expanded, apparently to included suite parking and other arena-related uses not originally disclosed.

While that's part of the lawsuit, more prominent are claims of racial discrimination and retaliation, with black employees claiming repeated abuse by white supervisors, preferential treatment toward Hispanic colleagues, and retaliation in response to complaints.

Two individual supervisors, for example, are charged with referring to black employees as “black motherfucker,” “dumb black bitch,” “black monkey,” “piece of shit” and “nigger.”

Two have referred to an employee blind in one eye as “cyclops,” and “the one-eyed guy,” and an employee with a nose disorder as “the nose guy.”

There's been no official response yet though arena spokesman Barry Baum told the Daily News they, but take “allegations of this kind very seriously” and have "a zero tolerance policy for…

To supporters of Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, it's a long-awaited plan for long-overlooked land. "The Atlantic Yards area has been available for any developer in America for over 100 years,” declared Borough President Marty Markowitz at a 5/26/05 City Council hearing.

Charles Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation, mused on 11/15/05 to WNYC's Brian Lehrer, “Isn’t it interesting that these railyards have sat for decades and decades and decades, and no one has done a thing about them.” Forest City Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco, in a 12/19/04 New York Times article ("In a War of Words, One Has the Power to Wound") described the railyards as "an empty scar dividing the community."

But why exactly has the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Vanderbilt Yard never been developed? Do public officials have some responsibility?

The bi-monthly Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Community Update meeting June 14, held at 55 Hanson Place, addressed multiple issues, including delays in the project, a new detente with project neighbors,concerns about traffic congestion, upcoming sewer work and demolitions, and an explanation of how high winds caused debris to fly off the under-construction 38 Sixth Avenue building. I'll have more coverage.
Security issues came up several times at the meeting.
Wayne Bailey, a resident who regularly takes photos and videos (that I often use) of construction/operations issues that impact residents, asked representatives of Tishman Construction if the security guard at the sites they're building works for them.
After Tishman Senior VP Eric Reid said yes, Bailey asked why a guard told him not to shoot video of the site, even though he was on a public street.

"I will address it with principals for that security firm," Reid said.
Forest City Ratner executive Ashley Cotton, the …

At right is a photo of a poster spotted in Hasidic Williamsburg right. Clearly there's an event scheduled at the Barclays Center aimed at the Haredi Jewish community (strict Orthodox Jews who reject secular culture), but the lack of English text makes it cryptic.

The website Matzav.com explains, Protest Against Israeli Draft of Bnei Yeshiva Rescheduled for Barclays Center:
A large asifa to protest the drafting of bnei yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel into the Israeli army that had been set to take place this month will instead be held on Sunday, 17 Sivan/June 11, at the Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn, NY.
So attendees at a big gathering will protest an apparent change of policy that will make it much more difficult for traditional Orthodox Jewish students--both Hasidic (who follow a rebbe) and non-Hasidic (who don't)--to get deferments from the draft. Comments on the Yeshiva World website explain some of the debate.

First mentioned in April, the Atlantic Yards project in Atlanta is moving ahead--and has the potential to nudge Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn further down in Google searches.

According to a 5/30/17 press release, Hines and Invesco Real Estate Announce T3 West Midtown and Atlantic Yards:
Hines, the international real estate firm, and Invesco Real Estate, a global real estate investment manager, today announced a joint venture on behalf of one of Invesco Real Estate’s institutional clients to develop two progressive office projects in Atlanta totalling 700,000 square feet. T3 West Midtown will be a 200,000-square-foot heavy timber office development and Atlantic Yards will consist of 500,000 square feet of progressive office space in two buildings. Both projects are located on sites within Atlantic Station in the flourishing Midtown submarket.
Hines will work with Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture (HPA) as the design architect for both T3 West Midtown and Atlantic Yards. DLR Group will be t…

Click on graphic to enlarge. This is post-dated to stay at the top of the blog. It will be updated as announced configurations change and buildings launch. The August 2014 tentative configurations proposed by developer Greenland Forest City Partners will change, and the project is already well behind that tentative timetable.

Pacific Park Brooklyn is seriously delayed, Forest City Realty Trust said yesterday in a news release, which further acknowledged that the project has caused a $300 million impairment, or write-down of the asset, as the expected revenues no longer exceed the carrying cost.

The Cleveland-based developer, parent of Brooklyn-based Forest City Ratner, which is a 30% investor in Pacific Park along with 70% partner/overseer Greenland USA, blamed the "significant impairment" on an oversupply of market-rate apartments, the uncertain fate of the 421-a tax break, and a continued increase in construction costs.

While the delay essentially confirms the obvious, given that two major buildings have not launched despite plans to do so, it raises significant questions about the future of the project, including:if market-rate construction is delayed, will the affordable h…